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Chapter 6. Man and Woman in the Beginning • 73
2. Why do you think some people are not comfortable with the teach-
ings about Original Sin and their personal sins? St. Paul writes, “I do
not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want” (Rom 7:19).
He discovered an inner war between evil and good. In what ways
could you identify with his analysis?
3. Why do some people think they can win salvation on their own?
Why is that approach mistaken? Why is Jesus the answer to the need
for salvation?
DOCTRINAL STATEMENTS
• God created man and woman in his image as his creatures called to
love and to serve him and to care for creation.
• Each person is a unity of body and soul. God directly creates the
immortal soul of each human being.
• God created human beings as male and female, equal to each other
as persons and in dignity. Man and woman complement each other
in a communion of persons.
• “Because of its common origin
the human race forms a unity
for
‘from one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole
earth.’ . . . ‘This law of human solidarity and charity,’ without exclud-
ing the rich variety of persons, cultures, and peoples, assures us that
all men are truly brethren” (CCC, nos. 360-361, citing Acts 17:26
and Pope Pius XII,
Summi Pontificatus
, no. 3).
• Revelation teaches about the state of original holiness and justice
of man and woman before sin. Their happiness flowed from their
friendship with God.
• The account of the Fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but it
affirms a primeval event, a sin that took place at the beginning of
history (cf. CCC, no. 390).
• Tempted by the Evil One, man and woman abused their freedom.
They opposed God and separated themselves from him.
• “By his sin Adam, as the first man, lost the original holiness and
justice he had received from God, not only for himself, but for all
human beings” (CCC, no. 416).